Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-10 remain for examination, wherein claims 1 and 5 are independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
IDS filed on 11/10/2023 and 6/10/2024 have been recorded.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, and 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuniyoshi et al (US-PG-pub 2019/0096550 A1, thereafter PG’550) in view of Imaoka et al (US-PG-pub 2010/0068512, thereafter PG’512) and Shi et al (CN 114203379 A, with on-line translation, thereafter CN’379).
Regarding claims 1 and 5, PG’550 teaches a R-T-B based magnet and manufacturing process (Abstract, par.[0049]-[0053], claims, and examples of PG’550). The comparison between the claimed alloy composition ranges and those disclosed by PG’550 has been listed in following table. All of the essential alloy composition ranges disclosed by PG’550 overlap the claimed composition ranges range, which creates a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144 05 I. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optimize the particle size of the alloy powder and the amount of REM (including Nd), Fe, B, Co, Al, and Cu in the alloy from the disclosing of PG’550 since PG’550 teaches the same R-Fe-B based magnet as claimed throughout whole disclosing range. PG’550 teaches applying atomization process for the alloy powder to obtain the 106 mm or less of particle size (par.[0082]-[0084 of PG’550), which reads on the atomization process (cl.5) and overlaps the claimed particle size of 10-70 mm as claimed in the instant claims 1 and 5. MPEP 2144 05 II. PG’550 does not specify the grain size of NdFeB phase (claims 1 and 5) and hydrogenation, disproportionation, and desorption treatment as claimed in the instant claim 5. PG’512 teaches a (rare earth element)-(iron)-(nitrogen)-based magnetic material and manufacturing process (Abstract, examples, and claims of PG’512) in powder form (par.[0198] of PG’512). PG’512 teaches applying gas atomizing and HDDR (Hydrogenation Decomposition Desorption Recombination) for the magnet powder and decomposed based on the disproportionation reaction (par.[0112] and [0198] of PG’512), which reads on the all of the essential manufacturing process as claimed in the instant claim 5. PG’512 specify including Nd-Fe-B based crystal microstructure (par.[0013] of PG’512) with crystal grain diameter of 10-200 nm and average grain diameter of powder of 0.2-200 mm (par.[0119]-[0120] and [0123] of PG’512), which overlaps the claimed Nd-Fe-B crystal grain diameter and powder diameter as claimed in the instant claims. MPEP 2144 05 I. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to apply the HDDR (Hydrogenation Decomposition Desorption Recombination) process and optimize the size of powder and crystal grain as claimed from the disclosure of PG’512 for the alloy of PG’550 in order to obtain a magnetic material for a high frequency wave which has high magnetic permeability and small eddy-current loss (Abstract and claims of PG’512). PG’550 in view of PG’512 does not specify including carbide comprising hafnium carbide as claimed in the instant claims. CN’379 teaches a rare earth permanent magnet, sintered magnet material, preparation method and application with NdFeB as main phase (Abstract, par.[0006], Examples, and claims of CN’379). All of the essential alloy composition disclosed by CN’379 (Claims and par.[0009]-[0014] of CN’379) overlap the claimed alloy composition ranges, and CN’379 specify including 0.1-0.5 mass% of high melting point carbide including hafnium carbide in order to obtain excellent characteristics such as high magnetic energy product and high cost performance (par.[0005] of CN’379), which overlaps the claimed carbide amount of 0.1-0.4 mass%. MPEP 2144 05 I. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optimize the amount of carbide including hafnium carbide as claimed from the disclosure of CN’379 for the alloy of PG’550 in view of PG’512 in order to obtain excellent characteristics such as high magnetic energy product and high cost performance (par.[0005] of CN’379).
Element
From instant Claim 1 and 5 (mass%)
From PG’550 (mass %)
Overlapping range
(mass %)
REM including Nd
24-30
27.5-35.0
27.5-30
Fe
68-72
Balance
68-72
B
0.8-1.2
0.8-0.99
0.8-0.99
Co
2.8-3.2
10 or less (pat.[0053])
2.8-3.2
Al
0.2-0.6
0-2
0.2-0.6
Cu
0.1-0.4
0-2
0.1-0.4
Carbide including Hf carbide
0.1-0.4
--
0.1-0.5 (CN’379)
--
Overlapping:
0.1-0.4 (CN’379)
Regarding claims 3-4 and 7-8, PG’512 specify including Nd-Fe-B based crystal microstructure (par.[0013] of PG’512) with crystal grain diameter of 10-200 nm and average grain diameter of powder of 0.2-200 mm (par.[0119]-[0120] and [0123] of PG’512), which overlaps the claimed powder (cl.3, and 7) diameter and Nd-Fe-B crystal grain diameter (cl.4 and 8). MPEP 2144 05 I. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optimize the size of powder and the size of crystal grain as claimed from the disclosure of PG’512 for the alloy of PG’550 in order to obtain a magnetic material for a high frequency wave which has high magnetic permeability and small eddy-current loss (Abstract and claims of PG’512).
Regarding claim 9, PG’512 teaches that the material alloy obtained by pulverizing and classifying the raw material alloy in an atmosphere (about 0.1MPa—noted by the Examiner) containing at least one of inert gases and hydrogen gas at 600 to 1,300oC. (par.[0219] of PG’512) and provide example operation the alloy powder for 1hr. (Example 1 of PG’512), which reads on the operation pressure and duration as claimed in the instant claim and overlaps the claimed operation temperature range. MPEP 2144 05 I. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optimize the operation parameters as claimed from the disclosure of PG’512 for the alloy of PG’550 in view of CN’379) in order to obtain a magnetic material for a high frequency wave which has high magnetic permeability and small eddy-current loss (Abstract and claims of PG’512).
Regarding claim 10, PG’512 teaches applying argon atmosphere for 1 hour to obtain the alloy powder (par.[0267] of PG’512), which reads on the claimed limitation as claimed in the instant claim.
Claim(s) 2 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over thereafter PG’550 in view of PG’512 and CN’379, and further in view of Toshiaki (JP 2002144328 A, with on-line translation, thereafter JP’328).
Regarding claims 2 and 6, PG’550 in view of PG’512 and CN’379 does not specify including SiC in the alloy as claimed in the instant claims. However including SiC in the Nd-Fe-B alloy is well-known as demonstrated by JP’328. JP’328 teaches a magnet powder (abstract of JP’328) with Nd-Fe-B based alloy (par.[0055] of JP’328). JP’328 specify including HfC and SiC in order to obtain the desired alloy composition with a thermal conductivity equal to or lower than that of the base (par.[0077] of JP’328). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to apply the well-known technique, that is including SiC in the alloy as claimed from the disclosure of JP’328 for the alloy of PG’550 in view of PG’512 and CN’379 in order to obtain the desired alloy composition with a thermal conductivity equal to or lower than that of the base (par.[0077] of JP’328).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIE YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1884. The examiner can normally be reached IFP.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan J Johnson can be reached on 571-272-1177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JIE YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734